Prologue

NARRATOR
Once upon a time,
In a far away land,
A young Prince lived in a shining castle
Although he had everything his heart desired,
the Prince was spoiled, selfish and unkind

But then, one winter's night,
an old beggar woman came to the castle
and offered him a single rose
in return for shelter from the bitter cold

Repulsed by her haggard appearance,
the Prince sneered at the Gift,
and turned the old woman away

But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances,
for Beauty is found within
And when he dismissed her again,
the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress

The prince tried to apologize,
but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart
And as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast
and placed a powerful spell on the castle and all who lived there

Ashamed of his monstrous form,
the Beast concealed himself inside his castle,
with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world

The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose,
which would bloom unitl his twenty-first year

If he could learn to love another,
and earn their* love in return by the time the last petal fell,
Then the spell would be broken

If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time

As the years passed,
he fell into despair and lost all hope,

For who could ever learn to love a beast?


(* in the movie, changed to "her")